Tuesday

I read this novel in about three days. It was engrossing, but fell a little flat in the middle.

What better premise than a woman bounty hunter who is looking for revenge and a Sheriff who has no time for women? We have all the ingredients for a great story: murder, intrigue, mystery, kidnapping... typical day in the old wild, wild, west, right? We also have a novelist who has written more than forty books with more than a 1.5 million books sold. How can that fall flat?

I have not read any of her other novels so I have nothing to compare it to, but this story does fall a little flat. Here is another example that suspense and love triangles don't mingle well in one novel. Either stay focused on the mystery/suspense and let a little love blossom, or leave out the love angle altogether. There is enough conflict with the five murderous McCaw brothers on the loose and the one that Sage Morrow was able to bring in got loose and injured the sheriff. Sage knew it was too easy bringing him in, so that tension could have been built to a nerve searing point that would keep awake the most sleepy reader. Added to that we have a kidnapping of two young boys, the sheriff laid up from his injuries and only Sage willing and able to track the bad guys.

It sketching the character of Sage, Mills does a pretty good job, except there is a problem which looks a bit like melodrama. Sage is tough as nails when it comes to wanting revenge for the death of her husband and son, but she tears up at the thought of two little boys at the mercy to those who killed her husband.

I did like the conflict created by the preacher Waller. His being a man-called preacher instead of a God-called man was loud and clear and an excellent character study. The kind of character you love to hate.

There are a lot of characters in this story, most of them lend very well to the flow of the story. Most are developed well, too, which gives a little spice to it. The part where the romance comes to a head so to speak, comes at a time in the storyline which makes me so impatient, makes me ask, "REALLY? You are going to woo a gal while the murders are lurking so close by you can smell their breath?" That kind of writing makes me want to toss the book on the floor and go to sleep... but, with only a few pages left, I couldn't let the murderers go scott-free, could I? Nor will you.

Award-winning author, DiAnn Mills, launched her career in 1998 with the publication of her first book. Currently she has more than forty books in print and has sold more than a million copies.

DiAnn believes her readers should “Expect an Adventure.” DiAnn Mills is a fiction writer who combines an adventuresome spirit with unforgettable characters to create action-packed novels.

Six of her anthologies have appeared on the CBA Best Seller List. Three of her books have won the distinction of Best Historical of the Year by Heartsong Presents. Five of her books have won placements through American Christian Fiction Writer’s Book of the Year Awards 2003 – 2007, and she is the recipient of the Inspirational Reader’s Choice award for 2005 and 2007. She was a Christy Awards finalist in 2008.

DiAnn is a founding board member for American Christian Fiction Writers, a member of Inspirational Writers Alive, Romance Writers of America’s Faith, Hope and Love, and Advanced Writers and Speakers Association. She speaks to various groups and teaches writing workshops around the country. DiAnn is also a mentor for Jerry B. Jenkins Christian Writer’s Guild.

She lives in sunny Houston, Texas. DiAnn and her husband have four adult sons and are active members of Metropolitan Baptist Church.

ABOUT THE BOOK

They took away everything she loved...now, she’s out for revenge.

Sage Morrow had it all: life on a beautiful Colorado ranch, a husband who adored her, and a baby on the way. Until five ruthless gunmen rode up to their ranch and changed her life forever. Now Sage is a bounty hunter bent on retribution.

Accompanied only by her majestic hawk, she travels throughout the Rocky Mountains in search of injustice, determined to stamp it out wherever it’s found. The stakes are raised when two young boys are kidnapped and Sage is forced to work with Marshall Parker Timmons to rescue them. But Sage may ultimately get more than she bargained for.

In this exciting historical romance set in the late 1800s, murder, intrigue, kidnapping, and questions of faith will keep you in suspense until the final pages.

1 comment:

I gave "A Woman Called Sage" to a friend to read and review, and her thoughts are up at Bloggin' Outloud. She had some similar thoughts to your review about the unbelievability of the characters and scenarios.

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